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How often should we pray?



Bible Study Posted  May 22, 2000

This week's scripture:  
I Thessalonians 5:16 - 18  16 Be joyful always; 17 pray continually; 18 give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus.

 This week's study is about prayer. How often should we pray? What should we pray about?

 Did you know that you are praying right now? You are! Paul told us in this letter to the Thessalonians that we are supposed to pray continually. It would be impossible for someone to kneel, bow their heads and close their eyes in prayer 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. So how can we pray continually (that means never stopping)? You have to realize that God is looking at you all the time. You know that time when you were taking a spelling test and couldn't remember if "object" was spelled with a "g" or a "j"? You looked over at Sally's paper just for a reminder. God was looking! He knew if you were cheating or not.

 Stay in prayer. You have to try to remember that, if you are a Christian, God is always watching and listening to you. He is even listening to your thoughts. Several times a day this fact should pop into your head. When it does, the Holy Spirit may be telling you to pray for someone. It could be your parents, your teacher, a friend, or someone from this web site. It happens to me about 20 times a day. I might say something quick, like "Wonderful Father, please touch Allie and her family today." Or if I have time, like when I'm driving somewhere, I might pray for 30 minutes. No matter where I am, no matter how long or short the prayer is, God is listening.

 There are some things you are supposed to do while praying.
 At least once a day you should have a special prayer. Jesus told us how to pray. I'll touch on it here, but if you want to read a short study click on "The Lord's Prayer." In your special prayer you should:
Give God glory
Ask that his will be done
Ask for the things you NEED (not want)
Ask for forgiveness of sins, and help forgiving others
Ask for help resisting the devil
Give God glory again (He loves for you to do that)

 You can pray about anything. Sometimes I'll tell God jokes! As a Christian, he is my best friend. He already knows everything, but tell him anyway. Tell God about things at school, at home, about your friends. Tell him about the things that are making you happy, sad, scared, or whatever. Tell him that you love him. Tell him that you have trouble understanding stuff. Tell him when you are disappointed that things don't go your way. Sing a song to him. If you remember that God is always with you, doing this stuff is easy. Make him your best friend. He won't tell anyone your secrets. If it makes it easier, talk to him out loud. I do it. It makes me feel like he is close. He is!

Pray to God through Jesus. God is the Father, Jesus is the Son, and there is the Holy Spirit here to comfort us. When Jesus died for us, he became our link to God. Before Jesus we had to go to a priest that talked to God for us. Jesus changed that. Imagine that when you talk to God you are on a telephone. Jesus is the phone! When you are talking to God you are talking to Jesus, too. They will send the Holy Spirit to comfort you, give you guidance, whatever.


How about you? Have you talked with God today? Take some time now to talk to and worship him.

This week's prayer:
Dear Father,
 Thank you for being the all powerful loving God. In everything that happens, I want your will to be done. Please help my parents at work so that they can provide for us. Please forgive me of my sins, just as much as I forgive those that have hurt me. Help me to remember to talk to you often, so that when the devil tries to get me to do something, I will ignore him. Thank you for being our healer, provider, comforter, and God.
 Amen.



Story posted May 22, 2000

Can Katie talk to God?

 Katie had a problem. She is looking to talk to someone about it. The problem isn't really a big one, but it's embarrassing. She went to MrGene to ask him some advice.
 "MrGene, can I ask you a question?"
 "Sure, Katie. Go right ahead."
 Katie asked, "I have a problem. If I tell you about it, do you promise not to tell anyone?"
 MrGene had to be honest. "Well Katie, as long as it's not something that would be dangerous for you. If it's something your parents or a professional should know, I would have to tell them for your sake."
 "It's not that bad MrGene. It is embarrassing. In fact, I'm too embarrassed to tell you."
 "Then you should tell God about your problem. Then if you don't feel better, tell me, and I'll help in any way I can." said MrGene.
 "OK, MrGene. I'll see you later." Katie said as she walked away.

 Katie was even more embarrassed to tell MrGene that she didn't know how to talk to God! As she was thinking about this, she bumped into Crazy Larry.
 "Watch where you are going, yellow hair!" yelled Crazy Larry.
 "I'm sorry, Larry. I was doing more thinking than looking where I was going."
 "What were you thinking about?" asked Larry.
 "I need to talk to God about something, but I don't know how to get a hold of him." said Katie.
 "Oh, that's easy, said Larry, " God has a 1-900 number."
 "A what?" asked Katie.
 "A 1-900 number. I saw it on an infomercial on TV. It costs $1.00 a minute." said Larry.
 "You have got to be kidding!" shrieked Katie.
 "No I'm not. It's 1-900-I'M GUESSING."
 Katie sighed. "That's not for God. I've seen that on TV, too. That's one of those psychics."
 "Same thing. That lady said she had a spiritual gift." answered Crazy Larry.
 "She might have a spiritual gift, but it's not from God! I heard a preacher talking about it in church. He showed us in the Bible where that stuff is from the devil. I'm not calling that number. It would be stupid to." Katie said.
 "Well, if you're not going to call a psychic, then look in the phone book. God has to have a phone number." said Larry.
 Katie was thrilled. "That's a great idea! There's a phone booth over there. Let's look him up, and give him a call."

 Katie and Crazy Larry searched the white and yellow pages. There was no listing for God. As they tried to find it, Tex came riding up on his trusty horse, Alpo.
 "Howdy, pardners. Whatchya up to?" Tex said in his Texas drawl.
 "Katie is trying to find out how to talk to God. We've tried looking up his number in the phone book, but it's unlisted." Crazy Larry said.
 "Well I'll be tarred and feathered. I thought fer sure God would have a listed phone number. I've got an idea. I've got this here CB radio. I betcha the big feller's listenin to that."
 Katie and Crazy Larry thought that was a good idea, too. So Tex turned his CB radio on and started trying to reach God.
 "Breaker breaker 1 - 9. How boutcha God, you got your ears on? Breaker breaker 20, Big guy, you gotcher ears on? Breaker breaker 21, Numero Uno, are you on this channel?"
 After he had gone through all 40 channels, they realized that God was not answering the CB.
 "I'm sorry, young cow pokes. I thought fer sure that the big guy would be on the radio."
 "That's OK." said Katie. "Any more ideas?"
 "Well, little lady, you could ask that little red feller. He's had to talk to critters all over the galaxy.!"
 "You're probably right, cow girl." said mean Crazy Larry. "I don't like that alien, but he probably knows how to talk to God."
 "Good luck, youngins." Tex said, and he and his trusty horse Alpo rode away.

 Crazy Larry and Katie went looking for Fred Red. They found him in the park looking at a tree.
 "Hello Fred Red" said Katie.
 "Hello human Katie, hello human Larry. How are you human children today?"
 "We're all right, alien. But Katie has a question." said Crazy Larry.
 "That's right Mr. Red. We've been trying to talk to God. We've tried everything. We tried to look him up in the phone book, we tried to talk to him on the CB, while we were looking for you we even went to a computer and tried to find his web site. We can't find how to talk to him anywhere. Do you have any ideas?"
 Fred Red laughed. "You have been trying very hard to talk to God, humans, and you've been talking to him all day!"
 "What are you talking about?" asked Larry.
 " If you have Jesus in your heart, like I do in all 3 of my hearts, then you are talking to him all day. He is always listening to you!"
 "So I don't have to call on the phone, or e-mail him?" asked Katie.
 "No, human Katie. If you have Jesus in your heart then all you have to do is start talking to him. It's called praying. He will be listening."
 "If he starts talking back, I'm going to run!" said Crazy Larry.
 "He doesn't normally talk back to us the way we talk to him, human Larry. His Holy Spirit talks to our spirit. Sometimes it is hard for us to understand him. The more we pray to him and study his Word, the easier it is for us to understand."
 "I think that is silly. I would rather call a 1-900 number." said Crazy Larry.
 "Not me," said Katie, "I think it makes sense. And if you will excuse me, I'm going to go talk with God."
 So Katie found a quiet place and started talking to God. She still had her problem, but she felt better about it. In fact, she got this funny feeling that she could trust MrGene and talk to him about it. She found MrGene and explained her problem. They discussed it, and he gave her several solutions, including spending more time in prayer about it.

 Soon her problem was forgotten, but not the solution. When ever she had a problem, or just something to share, she would talk to God. She found out that God was her best friend!

Welcome to the game page!
Just print out the game and play it on paper, or try to do it in your head!

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CLUES

ACROSS
3. How we talk to God.
5. Ask for this instead of what you want.
8. The book of the Bible our study comes from.
9. What Fred Red was looking at in the park.
10. Ask God to keep him away from you!

DOWN
1. When should we be joyful?
2. Who is the Father?
3. Might have spiritual powers (usually not) but never from God.
4. Who we go through to talk to God.
6. How often should we pray?
7. Sometimes MrGene even tells God these!



Answers for word game posted May 22, 2000
ACROSS
3. How we talk to God.     Pray
5. Ask for this instead of what you want.    Need
8. The book of the Bible our study comes from.       Thessalonians
9. What Fred Red was looking at in the park.       Tree
10. Ask God to keep him away from you!       Devil

DOWN
1. When should we be joyful?          Always
2. Who is the Father?                         God
3. Might have spiritual powers (usually not) but never from God. Psychic
4. Who we go through to talk to God.      Jesus
6. How often should we pray?        Continually
7. Sometimes MrGene even tells God these!          Jokes

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Copyright 2000 by Gene Powell